There’s not an organization in the world that isn’t trying to raise the waterline on leadership. Often mentoring is used to help high potential leaders or new leaders get up to speed. While this can be useful and has its place, it isn’t exactly sustainable in its one-person-at-a-time approach.
For mentoring to have a bigger impact, here at The Roundtable we are huge advocates for group mentoring. In group mentoring senior leaders work with a group of 3-5 mentees, building critical knowledge, skills and behaviours. And, just like in 1-to-1 mentoring, the learning and development flows both ways between the mentor and their mentees.
However, when done in a group setting there are the exponential benefits as mindsets, culture and collaboration are cultivated as part of the group experience. In short, you are tapping into the collective wisdom of a group, and then creating an environment where group members can go back to their teams and pass along their new-found knowledge or practice their leadership skills.
Group Mentoring Impact
Group mentoring gives organizations more bang for their buck. It shifts learning from one-to-one to one-to-many. Some of the benefits include:
- Both mentors and mentees feel more engaged when there are multiple people within a mentoring session, all sharing insight and knowledge.
- There’s greater exposure to varying levels of experience and knowledge as each participant brings their own expertise to the group.
- A greater awareness of diversity; the cross-functional, diverse nature of the group brings together people that might not have naturally gathered together. It also gives leaders clearer sight into the abilities and talents of a more diverse range of talent.
- It breaks down organizational silos, and leaders (and their mentees) no longer feel isolated or like they have to go it alone. Shifting behaviours and sharing insights becomes a group experience.
For any organization that wants to engage their employees and create a type of sustainable, scalable mentoring system, group mentoring acts as a type of “learning incubator” that can be a catalyst for change throughout the organization.
If you’re curious about how The Roundtable can help your organization develop a culture where leaders can move beyond their own teams to support each other through coaching and mentoring, let’s start a conversation.
